The K 530 headphones perform well when given a clean audio source. They may be a little cheaply built but they are very comfortable and sound great.

A solid entry into the noise cancelling headphones space, Panasonic's RP-HC500s offer good value for money, although those willing to pay a premium should look towards high end IEMs for better sound quality.

The Aurvana X-Fi is not inexpensive. But the nearest competitor, Bose's QuietComfort 2, costs just as much and offers half the features. Which would you rather have – headphones that merely block noise, or headphones that block noise and improve your music? The choice is obvious.

These headphones are fantastic for listening to high-quality audio. They're balanced, even, and reproduce all frequencies admirably. Their only stumbling point is that they're too good at exposing the inadequacies of compressed MP3s and poor recordings.